Meeting Planner Careers

If you would enjoy a meeting planner career but are also good at getting people together for everyone’s benefit, you may be just the kind of person that could thrive in an economic downturn.  Everyone knows that Business-to-Business contacts are important, so why not focus on helping businesses get through the end of the recession intact? Consider a career helping business groups survive.

Let’s face it–a meeting planner has to be comfortable around people. She has to be ready to talk to a lot of strangers at any time, keep things running, and create maximum benefit for all. So if you are going to start your own event business, why not create a niche that will benefit you as well? Here are some ideas on creating a place for yourself in the business world.

B-2-B Contacts. Many business are wondering about new ways to build business in a bad economy–help them by designing their networking events.

Non-Profits. You could spend a lifetime specializing in events for nonprofits. Remember, “nonprofit” does not mean “no money.” Many of these organizations would benefit greatly from the services of an event planner.

Sales Rep. Yes, you could take your education in event planning and get a lucrative position as a sales rep. Companies that sell beverages, catering services, travel and accommodations, and other services love people who understand the industry–they already know what they’re doing!

As you can see, there are lots of opportunities for you to help businesses with the right education and personality traits.

If you are planning to opt for an event-planning career, here is a personality checklist to help you determine where you stand:

Highly efficient organizational skills

A meeting planner absolutely needs to be organized at all times. Organization is a crucial factor in determining the success of any event. Ask yourself how organized you are in your professional as well as personal life. A highly organized individual is certain to succeed as an event planner, while a disorganized individual is highly likely to make a mess of an event. The important thing here is not to be just plain organized, you need to be extremely organized, desiring perfection in every detail.

The reason why you need to be so highly organized is because as an event manager, you will be expected to put up a perfect show; when clients shell out money, they expect perfect and flawless service. You would not want to get into the bad books of your clients. A good word of recommendation from a reputed client can hugely enhance your event-planning career. Read more…